gonna paint you by numbers
by rockstarmentalities
Summary: Mako could see the recognition spread across her face. - series of oneshots showing points in mako and korra's relationship. mako/korra;
1. Chapter 1

"This is the kitchen, here is the bathroom, you guys have already seen the living space… and here's the bedroom!"

_Pause._

"I'll bet twenty thousand yuans that that is the favourite room of the lot?"

"Bolin!" _Smack._ "Did you not notice the children here?"

"Oh… right. Pretend you didn't hear that, please? Tenzin will kill me if you repeat that around him, so… uh… yeah."

"I will make no such promises."

From his spot in the kitchen, Mako grimaced. The posse, group – whatever they were – had been in his apartment for less than five minutes and already he wanted them out. Normally, he would be okay with having people over, but at that particular moment, he didn't care for them too much. He resumed chopping the vegetables at the counter. Cooking distracted him; it allowed him to focus on something else. However, that was getting increasingly difficult. The voices started getting louder, and as fast as he could blink, they were on top of him. The youngest airbending girl crawled up his back, arms dangling around his neck, watching as he worked. She was quiet for a moment but then exploded into all sorts of random questions. He chose to ignore them, focusing on cutting the tomato into smaller and smaller pieces while grinding his teeth.

He could feel her eyes on him, with her head cocked slightly to the side most likely. Her gaze bore holes in his back until they were torn away by the airbending children looking for her attention. He breathed a soft sight of relief, arching his back to crack it. He glanced into the living space, where she was entertaining Tenzin and Pema's children. Even the youngest one, the one born during the middle of an Equalist raid on Air Temple Island, was there. Unlike his older siblings, he was being held by Asami, who was watching the kids for Tenzin and Pema while they ran errands in the city. Usually their go-to was Korra, but she was occupied moving into her new apartment with Mako.

It was unclear why Bolin was with the group, as he had joined Korra and Mako when they first when to check the place out. While Mako loved him dearly, he wanted to be left alone every once and a while. Today seemed like a good day to have that, didn't it? Unfortunately, Asami, Bolin and the children had other plans. Asami insisted on helping the couple settle in, by helping them unpack the few items that they owned.

Once that was finished, Korra invited them to stay for dinner – which was grating enough – and they agreed. When dinner was served, the chatter began again. Mako was getting increasingly frustrated with the entire group, only giving curt responses and short nods as an answer. This was fairly normal for the firebender, but every so enough he would snap, and the entire table would go silent for a minute before Ikki started talking again. Korra returned his answers with angry glares and narrowed eyes while clenching and unclenching her fists around her eating utensils. Spirits, Tenzin was making progress on her patience.

His patience was wearing thin by the time their friends finally left hours later. Mako was cleaning up from dinner and Korra was lazing around on the couch. Neither said a word to each other, even as Korra walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She gave him a squeeze (not a gentle squeeze either) to let him know he was in trouble.

"No problem. There's no problem," he replied, scrubbing a dish with a little too much force. She squeezed him again, stronger this time. He sputtered a little, always surprised by her raw strength. "Fine, you win. I wanted to be alone."

She untangled her hands from his scarf. "Well, you could have just left and gone for a walk or something, Mako," she pointed out in disbelief. Mako turned around and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No, it's not like that. I mean you and me. Alone, together," he explained. Suddenly, she pulled him to the couch and she sat beside him. A look of 'and?' crossed her face and Mako felt compelled to explain his thoughts further. "It just seems that whenever we get some downtime, you're inviting people over – even when Bolin and I lived together, and you lived on the Island and you would visit us – or you're called away."

She was still as silent as an elephant mouse, when her face lit up. She scrambled over the back of the couch, ran over to the front door and locked it. Mako moved to sit up and watch what she was doing, but her hand appeared out of nowhere and pinned him against the back of the couch. "Well, we're alone now," she purred as she crawled onto his lap and kissed his lips.

Mako couldn't help but laugh. "Are you kidding? You have to help me with these dishes, Avatar. You can't get out of your chores that easily with me," he murmured in her ear, winking. He stood up, carrying her bridal style and plopped her down in front of the kitchen sink. "I made dinner. Now you have to wash the rest of the dishes." His girlfriend pouted, until he stuck her hands into the soapy water, backed away and jumped over the back of the couch. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap."

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**a/n:** lol fluff I'm sorry  
title lyrics courtesy of ed sheeran. thanks love 3


	2. Chapter 2

"This is exactly what you want, buddy?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I want," he said, repeating the question as if to reassure himself. "Don't air it for an hour or so, because I have to cross the city to get there in time." The man sitting at the desk gave a quick nod and Mako slapped some crumpled bills on the desk. "Thank you so much, really."

He gained a grunt in response, which Mako took as his signal to leave. He spun on his heel and wrapped his scarf around his neck once more. The winter in Republic City was unusually frigid that year and he even wore a parka given to him by Korra's family. It was snug and warm, perfect for the firebender's fondness of heat. He wished he had had a similar coat when he was younger, and one for Bolin as well. He wouldn't have had to have worried as much about getting hypothermia out on the streets. He blinked, erasing the thought from his mind. He had a home now, as did Bolin, and they were warm, well-fed and healthy. That's all Mako ever wanted in life, at least until he met Korra.

Now he wanted warmth, food, health _and_ his girlfriend. Not a day went by where they didn't see each other, or at least communicate. They still lived in the apartment they had moved into a few years back, but now it was familiar and comfortable. As time went on, they began to accumulate pieces of their relationship: two of the three plaques given when the Fire Ferrets won the tournament, a couple of polar leopard blankets that Korra's mother, Senna had made for the couple, little trinkets that Korra found as her adventures went on, and more of the same.

Mako passed their apartment building, looking at their window to see if any lights were on. _Perfect. _Quickening his pace, the twenty three year old shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the docks. He paid his fare to the Island and caught the last ferry of the day to travel over to the temple. The wind from the bay whipped at his face, leaving raw, red marks on his cheeks. Spirits, he hated the winter. The sun hardly came out from behind the clouds, snow was everywhere and it reminded him of terrifying, frozen nights and frantic searches for food. Korra always teased him, saying that he would never last a winter in the South Pole. According to the Avatar, the sun never came out in the winter, which made Mako shiver just thinking about it.

Luckily, the ferry pulled into the island's dock just as Mako thought he would freeze. He was the lone occupant on the ship that wasn't a crew member, so he was alone as he stepped onto the wooden planks. Making a beeline for the nearest door, he slipped in and shrugged off the slightly wet coat from his shoulders. Before he hung it up on the rack, he dug through the pockets and pulled out a small object. He stuck it in the pocket of his pants and gave Ikki and Meelo a quiet greeting and a finger to his lips – signifying 'don't say a word'. For once, the pair was quiet and Mako thanked the Spirits. They disappeared around the corner and he followed suit.

They walked into a room, where Pema, Rohan, Tenzin and Korra all sat. Korra's back was to the door and she was leaning her elbows against her knees. The others faced Mako for the most part, and they were all focused on the radio sitting in the centre. It was playing the news, where the announcer rattled off the latest goings-on in the city, the country and the rest of the world. Tenzin lifted his head and spotted Mako, who again brought a finger to his lips. The airbending master only looked back at his wife, who was attempting to get Rohan to stop blowing little breezes at his father's face for practice. They looked like a family, and Mako felt like he was intruding.

The news wrapped up and announcements set up by citizens of the city started. There were reports of lost pets, found jewelry, things for sale and events going on in and out the city.

"And we have one last announcement, one specifically for Avatar Korra," came the slightly static-y voice. The Avatar straightened her back in surprise, cocking her head slightly. Mako pulled the small object out of his pocket and clutched it tightly in his hand. "This comes from Mako and he has one question for you… will you marry him?" Pema's reaction was the first one he saw. Her head snapped up and she finally saw him in the doorway and a knowing smile spread on her lips. The youngest of the children didn't really understand, but they could sense the excitement in the room. Tenzin didn't change his facial expression much, only allowing a small smile as he looked at Korra, who was looking wildly around the room.

Finally, she turned around and as she did, Mako knelt down on one knee and gave her the biggest, cheesiest smile he could make. Korra stood up and walked over to him, her face going from shock, to glee. He held out the box, opening it up to show the ring. He was originally going to make a betrothal necklace for her, as she was always talking about how beautiful Master Katara's was, but he felt that the ring had more significance – it was his mother's wedding ring. He hadn't known that Bolin had been carrying them around since their parents' death, even though he was so young. Mako barely remembered obtaining them after it was clear that they were orphans. Bolin had insisted that Mako use the rings for he and Korra and Mako could see the recognition spread across her face. She knew exactly who the ring used to belong to and he saw her pause for a moment.

"Yes," she said, grabbing Mako's hand and pulling him into a hug. She held him tight, until he wriggled free of her grip to give her a kiss. When they broke apart, he slid the ring onto the fourth finger of her left hand and she could only make startled, happy noises. Her airbending family – and his in a way – stood up to congratulate the couple. The children were bouncing around excitedly and their parents enveloped Korra and Mako in a hug.

When they were on their way back to the apartment, hand in hand, Korra was staring at the dainty ring. "This was your mother's, wasn't it?" she asked softly. Mako nodded, chewing thoughtfully on his lip. The avatar breathed in, before looking at her boyfriend – er, fiancé – and smiled madly. "Mind if I do something really quick?"

"Go ahead," Mako replied, curious as what she could possibly want to do on a ferry in the middle of the water.

She broke her hand away from his, leaned over the side of the railing and screamed, "I AM ENGAGED, REPUBLIC CITY. SEE IT AND WEEP." The crew members all looked at her like she was drunk off cactus juice and Mako could only let out a chuckle. That was Korra for you.

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**a/n:** oh my god fluff fluff fluff. I don't like this one too much... mer. I feel as if I diverted away from their characters a tad towards the end, but honestly I have no idea how Korra would actually react to something like that... so... yeah.


End file.
